Jersey City police say ex-con pulled out gun on bus and was disarmed by another passenger

Chaos erupted on an NJ Transit bus in Jersey City Thursday evening when an ex-con displayed a handgun and panicked passengers bolted for the doors, authorities said yesterday.

Jonah Williamson, 30, of Rutgers Avenue, was arrested aboard the No. 87 bus at Martin Luther King Drive and Claremont Avenue about 6:45 p.m. on charges of resisting arrest and weapons offenses, including possession of a firearm by a felon, police said.

Williamson was about 15 years old when he was charged in a May 1996 killing in Jersey City and he pleaded guilty in criminal court to manslaughter in August 1996, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said.

He was sentenced to eight years in prison and served from March 13, 1998 to Sept. 28, 1999, but a parole violation landed him behind bars again from Oct. 4, 2001 to Oct. 25, 2002, corrections records say.

On Thursday, officers on patrol saw people running from the bus screaming “He has a gun,” reports said, adding that cops boarded the bus with guns drawn.

The cops spotted a 24-year-old man holding a pistol and ordered him to drop it, but he yelled “It’s not me! It’s not me!” before complying with the cops’ command, reports said.

That’s when police saw Williamson seated nearby and passengers told police that it was Williamson’s gun, reports said. Passengers also told cops that during an argument between Williamson and the 24-year-old, Williamson lifted his shirt and exposed the gun.